Energy, Environment, Climate Action Department private consultancy bill blows out to $30m

Taxpayers are paying more for private advice on tree planting and rolling out wind turbines than for health, corrections, or transport, new data from the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office has revealed.

Victoria’s climate action and environment bureaucrats are dropping tens of millions of dollars on private consultants amid the Allan government’s controversial renewable energy rollout.

Taxpayers are forking out more for external advice on planting trees, rolling out wind turbines and managing wastewater than on health, corrections, treasury or transport, according to new data released by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office.

The startling figures, which stretch back to 2017, show Labor has spent almost $1bn — $924m — on private consultants in the past seven years.

The Energy, Environment and Climate Action Department’s bill for private consultants has increased tenfold in just five years, soaring from just $3m in 2019-2020 to $30m last financial year.

The top-three ticket items included $1.5m on external advice on a plan to plant 16 million extra trees across Gippsland, more than $1.4m on “commercial advisory services” for offshore wind projects, and more than $1m on a Broken River reconfiguration project.

Among the top-ticket items was $1.5m on external advice on a plan to plant 16 million extra trees across Gippsland.

More than $100,000 was spent on consumer market research about residential battery and electrification uptake, while another $99,000 was spent on advice about “showerhead program options”.

Transport and planning bureaucrats, which were the second biggest offenders, more than halved their spend on private consultants compared to the previous year, reeling it in from $49m to $24m.

The Justice and Community Safety Department also cut back on external advice, according to the figures, with the bill dropping to $13m from $25m in 2022-2023.

The Allan government, however, appears to have taken an axe to its eye-watering spend on private consultants as it hurtles towards $187.8bn in net debt by 2027-28.

More than $1.4m has been spent on ‘commercial advisory services’ for offshore wind projects.

Under former premier Daniel Andrews spending on private consultants climbed from just over $100m in 2018-19 to a whopping $167.2m by 2020-2021, according to the VAGO’s figures.

The huge jump was partly due to the pandemic, with the health department’s external consultancy spend blowing out to $47m.

The total figure then fell to $150m in 2022-2023, before dropping to $103.5m last financial year.

VAGO, in its release, noted that it had “not completed analysis” on the figures provided by the departments.

The opposition says the Allan government has ‘shown an extraordinary reliance on consultants to do the work of government. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Shadow finance minister Bridget Vallence said the staggering almost $1bn spend on consultants highlighted “Labor’s financial incompetence and mismanagement”.

“Despite having an enormously bloated public service, the Allan Labor government has shown an extraordinary reliance on consultants to do the work of government,” she said.

A state government spokesperson said: “We’re building Victoria’s renewable energy future and helping households and businesses slash their energy bills with access to more cheap and reliable renewable energy – and we’re making sure it’s done right by engaging the best specialist and technical experts”.

Originally published as Energy, Environment, Climate Action Department private consultancy bill blows out to $30m